Things don't always go as planned. The trail following Stafford Creek to Navaho Pass has become a personal favorite. There's 3100' of elevation gain over 5.5 miles. The views along the way vary and transition from lovely pastoral scenes to stunning vistas of the Cascades as you approach the pass. The most typical option once you're at the pass is to turn east and hike to the summit of Navaho Peak. That section is approximately 1200' of elevation gain in a little less than a mile! Once you're at the top, though, the incredible views are worth every step you just suffered through. Filling your view to the north is the Stuart Range which is the southern boundary of The Enchantments. Mt. Stuart with its 5000' of relief dominates this view. On a clear day you can turn around to face south and see the magnificent Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams.

 

I chose to attempt a different option on this hike, however. There are older and less frequented trails at the pass and one heads toward Volcanic Neck, an old volcanic plug that presents an interesting rock formation in the middle of the Cascades. I wanted to attempt it if the conditions were right; namely, the trail was passable and it was not too hot and exposed for a hike in the heat of the afternoon. This was the first disappointment. The trail toward Volcanic Neck certainly looked to be in good condition, but the temperature was approaching 90oF and it was exposed. There was a water source a little ways behind me, but I was uncertain if I would come across another between the pass and Volcanic Neck - that could be a distance of four miles (round trip) with no spots to replenish my water. I knew I was drinking a little over a liter of water per hour in the dusty heat and had a carrying capacity of three liters. I decided to play it safe and leave Volcanic Neck for another day.

 

I didn't even consider climbing to Navaho Peak at that time of the afternoon. It was just shy of 2:00 pm and the temperature would continue to rise for another couple of hours. I decided to return to my camp at "The Meadows" (a high alpine meadow a half-mile before Navaho Pass) and would consider hiking to the peak closer to 6:00 pm. The temperature would be cooling at that time and I would have a full three hours of sunlight remaining - more than enough time.

 

That, also, was not going to be. As I turned south and headed back to my camp I saw some clouds forming southwest of me. The haze from the British Columbia wildfires made it difficult to determine the type of clouds, but the differentiation of the color made it clear a cloud bank was slowly growing. Back at the camp, I took out my Delorme inReach Explorer back. I can request weather updates and they're charged at the affordable rate of one text message (I have 40 text messages included in my monthly plan). If the forecast called for lightning strikes then I still had time to head back to my car. This area had not seen measurable rain for six weeks and it was a tinderbox.

 

And this was my next disappointment. The inReach Explorer returned an error message indicating it could not provide a weather update. I had a strong satellite connection, but it simply couldn't send an update. I repeated this every half-hour and I received the same error message each time. I believe this was the fifth time I had requested a weather update over the past few seasons and this was the first failure. Nevertheless, that represents a failure rate of 20% which is too high for my liking. I'll look into it and it's possible that the dependability of the inReach Explorer is high overall and I just had an unlucky afternoon.

 

In hindsight, I could have left for my car without the weather report. I saw that clouds were forming and knew that the region was dry and the wildfire threat was high. But the forecast I had checked early in the morning had shown lightning storms in late morning of the next day; I chose to rely on that. Another disappointment! Actually, it's more accurate to call it a mistake than a disappointment, and it was of my own doing.

 

I heard the first thunderclaps around 4:30 pm. I was in a high alpine meadow and definitely more exposed than I wanted to be in a lightning storm. At that point it was too late to head for my car as there were a few sections of trail that were even more exposed than the meadow. Fortunately, there were rock formations that could serve as temporary shelter. I hunkered down at the base of one and waited out the storm. It seemed to take its time coming toward me with increased threat communicated via louder and louder thunderclaps. It continued for more than an hour, but finally started to move away from me. I had seen two lightning bolts and both appeared to travel cloud-to-cloud and not make contact with the ground. I knew that didn't mean there weren't ground-strikes elsewhere nearby, but it appeared the worst was over. Soon enough, sun had returned and I was taking photographs of nearby peaks.

 

Photography was a primary goal of this trip. I had never tried night sky photography and tonight was the peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower. I was hopeful that the smoky haze from the B.C. wildfires would dissipate as the early morning forecast had said it would (though, that forecast had already proved to be unreliable). A change in weather was quickly coming and the winds would take care of the haze. However, the weather pattern would also bring rain clouds. I was hoping there would be a sweet spot in the night during which the haze was gone and the clouds had not yet moved in.

 

This, happily, proved to be the case. Further, the haze cleared in early evening and I was able to do some time-lapse photography after it had become dark and before the moon had risen. It would be a gibbous moon which is much brighter than desirable for viewing the night sky - no point complaining as that was simply something I had to work with. I placed my camera on the small Ultrapod II tripod and set it for repeating high-ISO, long-exposure photos. This was my first attempt at both time-lapse and night sky photography so I wasn't surprised that my results weren't nearly as sharp as the pros. I ended up with some usable material and I was happy with that. I'll continue to work on it and improve.

 

I set the camera up again at 3:45 am. The earth's rotation would turn my location toward the oncoming meteor shower and it would be the peak hour of the peak night for viewing these meteors. By that time, though, the clouds had started to move in. The wind changed direction several times and with some of these shifts came the increased odor of smoke. It was possible that lightning strikes had started a new fire nearby and I began to break down my camp. It was too dark to head out on the trail so I waited for the light to increase. I left camp at 5:30 am.

 

I had considered alerting other campers in the area (there were very few) but decided against it. At the time of my departure the smell of smoke had decreased and there was no imminent threat of wildfire approaching The Meadows. I enjoyed an early jaunt back to my car and was headed toward I-90 before 8:00 am.

 

Smoke spreads over Puget Sound and the Cascades

Brief time-lapse of the Perseid Meteor Shower

Navaho Pass